"Well, I thought disturbing you guys without warning would be a little too much, and besides, Hob is still injured, isn't he? So we figured that a little rest would be good for both of you." Amy said, explaining her and Geld's decision not to wake Hob and Friz up during the night.
"Thank you for the consideration, but I think you both should have woken us up still, because now you both are tired, and we still have to get to the base." Hob said to Amy and Geld, trying to reason with them.
"Alright, I'll wake you guys up next time, but for now, I think you both should get ready. We'll be moving again in an hour." Amy said, nonchalantly waving her hand.
Hob and Friz didn't say anything more and started to get ready. When there were less than 15 minutes left before they set out, Commander Arihant once again gathered everyone in the middle of the cave to discuss their final plan.
"Everyone, we are less than four hours away from the base. I would like you to keep the ones we captured yesterday concealed properly because wild animals aren't very fond of them. The whole situation will be explained to everyone once we get back to the base. For now, everyone is to make the final preparations. We'll move out in 15 minutes. Make sure to leave some necessary supplies here for the next time we come back, in case we need them then." Commander Arihant ordered everyone and went ahead to check out the final preparations himself.
Soon, the humans set off on their journey once again. This time, as the vehicles got out of the cave one by one, some Hunted were going on top of the hill that had split the road in two, from where they had taken a right last night. Keeping an eye out for potential dangers around the caravan, they kept pace with the caravan easily, as it had to go around the hill while they were walking on top of it without needing to maneuver around.
"You both aren't well-rested. Go to sleep for now; we'll take care of the rest. Just hand over your spyglass to me, Amy. I'll keep watch for the next few hours." Commander Arihant said after seeing Amy and Geld struggling to keep their eyes open.
"B... But, Commander, we can still go on for the rest of the journey." Amy tried to refuse the offer.
"It is an order. Now hand over the spyglass and go to sleep. You too, Geld. Don't you both dare stay awake on my watch." Arihant said, scolding Amy and Geld.
"Yes, Commander." Amy and Geld said in a defeated tone together.
Taking the spyglass from Amy, Commander Arihant popped his head out of the roof again and started watching their surroundings—or more like one side of the surroundings, since on one side was a hill on which some Hunted were keeping watch while keeping pace with the caravan.
After looking around for over an hour, Commander Arihant lowered himself back inside the vehicle and handed the spyglass to Friz.
Friz, startled, asked, "Why are you giving it to me, Commander?"
"Well, they both stayed awake so that the two of you could get proper rest. Isn't it only fair for you two to fill in their roles? Besides, I'm an old man—I haven't got the stamina to keep watch for the whole journey. I did it until now to make sure these two were asleep before handing it over to you two. Now, get out there and keep watch." Commander Arihant said while shaking his head.
"Y... yes, Commander." Friz said and climbed onto the roof of their vehicle.
"And Hob, you better cherish your friends. It's hard to find ones like these. Now I'm going to sleep. Wake me up if there's any danger around; otherwise, just keep watch and let me sleep until we arrive at the base." Commander Arihant said, yawning as he adjusted his seat and lay down to sleep.
"Yes, Commander, I'll keep that in mind." Hob said, feeling good to be in the company of such a caring commander.
For the next three hours, the humans faced numerous small skirmishes with wild animals, but none of them were much of a threat and were dealt with quite easily. Meanwhile, the scouts on the hill provided timely information, along with Friz keeping an eye on the other side of the terrain with Amy's spyglass.
Now the hill was about to end, gradually lowering in height and coming down to ground level. It was right then that the scream of a Hunted echoed from the hill. When everyone turned to look in the direction of the scream, a Hunted was lying on the ground, holding his leg, which seemed to be injured, while screaming and pointing in a direction. Looking in the direction the Hunted pointed, Hob saw a silhouette of something lunging into the bushes, and the others saw it as well. Some decided to maintain vigilance while others went over to help the injured Hunted. But just as they were helping the injured, another scream echoed, and another Hunted was on the ground. Seeing this, everyone's faces became pale because this meant that whatever they were facing was not scared and even dared to attack repeatedly without showing itself.
Understanding the gravity of the situation, Hob reached out and shook Commander Arihant to wake him up. "Commander, wake up! We're in danger." Hob said, continuing to shake him.
Waking up immediately at the mention of danger, Arihant asked, "Danger? What danger? Tell me in detail."
"We don't know much either, Commander. It just appeared a minute ago and has injured two Hunted on the hill. It won't stay out in the open and keeps attacking again and again." Hob explained as quickly as he could.
Listening to Hob's explanation, Arihant's eyes widened. He climbed out through the roof and shouted, "Everyone, fall back to the caravan fast and carry the injured back with you. Don't leave anyone out there, and hold positions on the caravan. Be quick!"
Hearing this, everyone understood just how dangerous the situation was and started hurrying back to the caravan. Meanwhile, Arihant reached into the vehicle, pulled out Hob's shield, got out of the vehicle, and started climbing toward an opening on the hill. But the thing that had been attacking still struck, injuring two more Hunted before Arihant made his way up the hill.
Seeing Commander Arihant climb up the hill all by himself, most Hunted were dumbfounded. Some started to draw their weapons and move toward him, but before they could, Commander Arihant spoke in a loud voice.
"Don't come after me! You'll sacrifice yourselves for nothing. I know what to do, so stand back, watch, and learn, all of you." Arihant said without ever turning around.
Hearing his words, everyone calmed down a little but still stayed ready to provide assistance at a moment's notice because Arihant wasn't someone the humans could afford to lose.
Meanwhile, on the hill, seeing that the other humans had retreated and an old man of very low height was sent out to fight, the predator finally showed itself, thinking the humans were making an offering to survive.
As everyone saw the predator, they were flabbergasted because it was one of the rarest monsters to find in the wild, always preferring to operate alone. Its pitch-black skin made it blend into the shadows as if it were part of them. Its sharp claws could tear apart the scales of the toughest monsters, and it was also equipped with venom that, while not deadly, could slow down its prey's movement and thoughts.
As the Shadowclaw, a mutated version of a panther, walked toward Commander Arihant, he tightened his grip on the shield. Although it was going to be hard for Arihant to move the shield too much, it would be necessary for his survival.
In a few seconds, both of them were just a few meters apart, a distance the Shadowclaw could cover in a single leap. As everyone expected, it leaped into the air, aiming to get behind Elder Arihant and finish him off.
Everyone held their breaths, and some even prepared to rush to Arihant's aid. But it turned out to be unnecessary, as instead of moving the shield to the other side, Arihant moved himself to the other side of the shield, rotating it with himself. The Shadowclaw, not expecting Arihant to move behind the shield, dived onto his previous location and ended up bashing its head onto the shield. The impact was borne by Arihant better than everyone expected. But just as they thought the Shadowclaw would attack again, Arihant did something that made their jaws drop. He let go of his shield, threw a small knife above the monster's head—causing the Shadowclaw to duck down and prepare to lunge at Arihant—but then he pulled out his gun and pressed the trigger.
The booming sound of the gunshot was heard, and the Shadowclaw fell to the ground, leaving everyone rubbing their eyes in disbelief.
"I hope everyone saw that, especially Hob, because I don't think I'm going to do it again anytime soon. This is why you shoot through the nose—the bullet goes straight to the brain, making most animals drop dead instantly. Now come up here and carry this corpse onto the vehicles. It's a rare prey; I don't want it to spoil." Arihant said while panting for breath, looking like he'd pass out if he moved any more.